Eaton Federal grows, gives back to the community it calls home

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A full-service bank with local roots is adding a branch in its 80th year of business while continuing to support the community that makes it thrive.

Founded in 1937, Eaton Federal Savings Bank is headquartered in downtown Charlotte, Mich., with four branches in Eaton Rapids, Grand Ledge, Nashville and Olivet. In February, the community-owned branch opened a loan production office in Delta Township. The small office in a plaza on the corner of Saginaw and Creyts expands the company's reach and service area, and adds one additional staff to the 70 people employed across the now six branches.

Marketing Coordinator Grant Snyder says that although small in size and geography, Eaton Federal is a full-service bank serving individuals and small businesses throughout mid-Michigan. Chartered as Charlotte Federal Savings and Loan Association by two local businessmen, the bank originally provided local families with a safe place to invest their savings or finance the purchase or construction of a home. The bank was founded as a mutual association owned by its members, and retains that ownership structure today.

"The community supports us and we support them," says Grant Snyder, marketing coordinator of Eaton Federal Savings Bank. "It's full circle."

While the bank has always been focused on community, Snyder says that Eaton Federal has recently ramped up its pledge to support and be involved in Charlotte Rising—a community- and volunteer-driven organization focused on the economic revitalization of Charlotte. Eaton Federal recently announced it will contribute $50,000 in installments over the next five years to support the regional offshoot of Gov. Rick Snyder's larger Rising Tide initiative to advance economic prosperity in 10 Michigan communities.

"Charlotte Rising and the related Michigan Mainstreet Initiative are really focused on the development of downtown," says Snyder. "And being downtown, that makes it important to us. It goes hand-in-hand with what we do."

Eaton Federal moved into its downtown Charlotte headquarters in 1986. The newer building consists of 7,000 square feet and sits across from the city's old movie theatre at 236 S. Cochran Ave.